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Background
The Fall of the Niddermarch The wilderness of the Niddermarch was once a prosperous land, made rich through trade with the underground Dwarven Kingdom. For reasons unknown, a hundred years ago, the dwarves closed their doors and retreated deep beneath the ground. Trading ceased and the human cities of Ish and Abar faded into ruin. A few smaller, isolated human settlements remained, eking out an impoverished existence with little contact with more civilised lands. Over time the Orc tribes of K'aruch, Barag and Pogrog resettled the Niddermarch, vying for dominance over each other and the humans of the region. Although ostensibly still part of the Kingdom of Barasia, its remoteness and lack of economic importance led to it being virtually abandoned aside from Fort Dusval, a military posting for disgraced soldiers and politically undesirable nobles. Few commanders ever had the will or manpower to do much more than protect its immediate environs. The Appearance of the Drow The few reports that do come from the lands north of Fort Dusval tell of an increasing drow presence. A substantial force has left the Darklands and settled in the Niddermarch. They have established a Black Citadel, and roam the lands freely during the hours of darkness. The orc tribes have become subservient to the drow, and humans fleeing the northern Niddermarch have told of drow raids in the dead of night where entire villages were taken as captives, for purposes unknown. The Reclamation Proclamation To the south the Kingdom of Barasia has also suffered since the fall of the Niddermarch. Its nobles, once rich through the gold which flowed from the dwarven kingdoms, are now impoverished, falling to in-fighting and larcenous taxation of the even poorer townsfolk, leading to further civil unrest. The desperate ruler of the land, King Arvus XIV, has turned his attention to the north once again, issuing the Reclamation Proclamation. "The lands of the Niddermarch, most foully treated and unguarded by my ancestors, shall be reclaimed. The denizens of the dark shall be driven out or put to the sword, the orcs returned to the mountains, and the cities of Ish and Abar repopulated. Trade with the dwarves, the lifeblood which sustained this great nation, will resume, by force if necessary." The proclamation was met with derision. From whose empty coffers would come the money required to pay for such an army? Even if the mighty doors of the Dwarven kingdom were somehow breached, how could they force the Dwarves to trade? Undeterred, King Arvus XIV made a further announcement that the nation's prisoners would be given a chance to redeem themselves by joining the Great Expedition to the north, with a full pardon granted once trade with the dwarves resumes. Nearly a thousand enlisted, armed with decaying equipment unused for decades. They marched north, on the three week trek from Barisia's most northerly town through the Grey Hills to the Niddermarch. Men deserted by the hundreds, preferring a life of banditry in Barisia than certain death in an ill-fated campaign in the desolate Niddermarch. By the time the force arrived at Fort Dusval, some seventy soldiers remain. You are one of them.